Just for the Night
by africana
Summary: As she turned towards him, she had every intention of declining his offer in a very platonic, polite way, like the mature woman she convinced herself she was. But good heavens he was halfway out of his wet shirt and her tongue had become a slab of lead.


Hey all. I was listening to music, and had this scene in my head so I thought I'd make a one-shot out of it. It's a pretty standard SasuSaku. Might continue to edit it some. Let me know what you think. Also, for those of you waiting for the next chapter of Of Love and Suffering: it's on its way!

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**Just for the Night**

Of course it began raining moments after she and Sasuke exited the administration building. But of course it was not simply a drizzle or a quick rain shower or even a standard steady torrent. It was a delightful mixture of freezing rain and hail. February's last 'up yours' before it melted into March.

Over the course of her life, Sakura liked to think that she had been a grateful, receptive person. Never complaining much about the cards the universe had dealt her. In exchange for her compliance and pliability, she thought that the universe would grant her the one thing she begged and pleaded for since laying eyes on Sasuke's post-puberty body: to never be trapped alone with him. An easy enough request. Yet here she was, in her water-logged clothing in Sasuke's living room staring forlornly at the rivets of rain water creating thick prison bars on the windows.

She should've gone home. Straight home. Yes, his place had been closer but what was another ten to fifteen minutes or so in a wintry mix of slush and hypothermia compared to the hell she was about to endure? Why hadn't she just continued running through the storm? Emerging from the hallway, still in his wet clothes, he handed her a towel and the slight brush of his fingers jogged her memory. Oh yes, because at his doorstep, Sasuke, with his wet hair falling into his eyes and his chest peeking through the top of his shirt, had grabbed her hand, screaming through the racket of the storm that she had to come inside. Like a siren, beckoning her towards her demise.

_Idiot._

"Thanks." he nodded and walked towards the door. Her eyes followed him intently, her teeth chewed at her lip. Now what? Small conversation?

"Hail and rain. Just what I wanted to come back to after a mission." she laughed for good measure, relaxing slightly when he nodded in agreement. Good. Small talk was good. Now that the weather was covered, she figured the next topic could be—

"Do you want to stay?"

_No. No. No. No no no no no no no—_she blinked. "Here? With you?"

He shrugged before kneeling to unstrap his shoes. "You live on the other side of the village and the weather's bad. You can leave in the morning."

"I, uh. I don't—"

He smirked up at her. "I didn't ask you to mother my children or anything Sakura. It's a rather simple question."

She laughed and even she could hear the hysteria clenching her throat as the blurry image of the dark-haired babies of her dreams began to manifest before her. She shook her head. Oh God, she could not be here.

As she turned towards him, she had every intention of declining his offer in a very platonic, polite way, like the mature woman she convinced herself she was. But good heavens he was halfway out of his wet shirt and her tongue had become a slab of lead. Did he have to strip by the door? Did he have to shake his hair like that? Did the water droplets on his chest have to catch the glint of the light just so? Did he have to smell even better when wet? Did his smirk have to be an exquisite ratio of sexiness and smugness?

Her throat was suddenly dry. Could he see her swallowing repeatedly? _He will if you keep touching your neck idiot._ Her hand dropped quickly to her side and she turned her attention to the window which wasn't six feet tall and covered in muscles and sweat and male musk and _**sex**_.

"You're blushing Sakura."

"Am not." Lightly, his fingers pressed against her burning cheek and she started at the contact. "How red will you get when I take off my pants?" Something about his inflection of the word 'when' did something to her body, as if the mere fact that he hadn't used 'if' was physically stimulating in and of itself. _When, when, when, when, when, when, when_—she was insane.

In what she hoped was a smooth, not blatantly avoidant and awkward, maneuver, she slid away from his fingers, silently reveling in the lingering coolness of his fingertips.

"I probably just have a fever or something. I wasn't feeling too well on our way back from the mission." With his hands in his pockets, he stepped closer to her. "All the more reason to stay then."

When did she get so good at boxing herself in during situations like this? Metaphorically, at least, since Sasuke was doing a pretty good job of physically boxing her in. The sudden sensation of the wall against her back was frightening—mostly because it was eliciting a desire within her to be slammed against it with a ravenous Sasuke at her neck.

She could not be here. These thoughts would lead to wishes and hopes and inevitably, disappointment.

Sliding away from his approaching figure, she moved towards her backpack, slumped next to the door. Pausing as her fingers gripped the slick leather, she sighed. "I should really go now. I, uh, have things in the morning." Even she could hear the despondency in her voice.

His hand reached her wrist before she could reach the knob. Slowly, she followed the length of his arm with her eyes, sighing when she reached his face. So beautiful, even when he was frowning at her. How unfair.

"I don't understand why you are being so difficult." Each of his advancing strides was matched by her retreating steps. Oh boy, here she was again, between a wall and Sasuke. Which, with such a perfect view of his face, didn't seem like such a terrible place to be. But then his hand settled behind her head, his thumb smoothing the skin on her jaw, and she remembered that this was indeed a terrible, terrible place to be. The space between them dwindled slowly as she stood, immobilized.

How did one go about breathing when Uchiha Sasuke's lips were a mere inch from hers? She was at a loss.

"It's safer in here than out there, isn't it Sakura?" She could feel the air escape his lips as he annunciated the syllables of her name, his disapproval lingering in the small pauses. "I would prefer for you to stay." his other hand molded to her cheek. A slight movement pressed her harder against the wall and her breath caught in her throat. Heavy lids blurred her vision. There were no thoughts, no increments of time, no emotions. Still and silent, she existed only for the sliver of space between their lips.

"Stay the night..." His murmur was still hovering in the air as he lightly brought his lips to hers.

It hardly surprised her how immediately her body reacted: her lips parting with a moan, her hands threading through his hair, fingers clutching at his back, everywhere, everywhere. He was everywhere. Kissing Sasuke was an exercise of dominance: succumbing to his force or fighting against it. A bite to his lip caused him to crush her against the wall, sliding her upwards in the process. The pressure of his grip on her thighs heightened the desire heating her body. She broke away for air and he was at her neck, on her shoulder, everywhere, everywhere. Her moan shuddered through his body and he loosened his hold, allowing her feet to return to the floor.

Heaving and flushed, they studied each other, incapable of speaking.

Idiot. idiot. idiot. Idiot. Wasn't this the last thing she needed? A messy 'are-we-or-aren't-we' friendship with _him_? She needed to go. She needed to—

"Stay." There were his lips again. Smooth and skilled and slow. She trembled. It was concerning how sublime the sensation of kissing him was.

He pulled away, waiting for a response. Was that a hint of apprehension in his eyes? Sighing,—she was doing that a lot tonight—she ran her fingers through his hair. She could manage, one night, right? It wasn't like he was asking for eternity. Her eyes fell on his chest. She traced his collarbone with her finger. "It_ is_ pretty bad out there." A quick glance at his face revealed his growing smile. "Perhaps I could stay...just for the night. And then—dear Lord." He sure knew how to work that mouth. She could only imagine how much foundation she would need to camouflage her neck.

"This doesn't mean we're together Sasuke."

"Hn." he murmured against her skin.

"Or that I _want _us to be together."

"Hn."

"Or that there'll be another night like this one."

"Right." Was that a chuckle?

Although her body protested, she pushed him away and jabbed her finger into his chest, trying to muster up a serious expression. "I am serious Uchiha. No guarantees."

_Who are you kidding?_ His impish, arrogant smile seemed to say but before she could scold him, he began to refamiliarize himself with her lips. She planned to set him straight, she really did, but his fingers were under her shirt doing some serious kneading and his name came out a moan. She felt his lips pull into a smile against hers. Yeah, who was she kidding? Her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer.

"We should really get out of these wet clothes now Sasuke."

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Tell me what you thought. All constructive criticism is appreciated. :)


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